Air distribution assembly



July 24, 1962 w. L. MCGRATH 3,045,578

AIR DISTRIBUTION ASSEMBLY Filed June 30, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG. I

FIG. 2

INVENTOR.

WILLIAM L. McGRATH.

ATTORNEY,

July 24, 1962 w. L. MCGRATH AIR DISTRIBUTION ASSEMBLY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2Filed June 30, 1959 III l i I FIG. 7

PK; 5 INVENTOR.

WILLIAM L. McGRATH.

ATTORNEY.

United States Patent Ofifice 3,045,578 Patented July 24, 1962 3,045,578AIR DISTRIBUTION ASSEMBLY William L. McGrath, Syracuse, N.Y., assignorto Carrier Corporation, Syracuse, N.Y., a corporation of Delaware FiledJune 30, 1959, Ser. No. 824,066 13 Claims. (11. 98-40) This inventionrelates to an air distribution assembly and more particularly to animproved air distribution assembly for distributing conditioned air in aplurality of alternately selected directions.

In distributing air such as may be provided by an air conditioning unit,or other source thereof, it is desirable to provide more than onepattern in which the air may be discharged from the unit. This isparticularly desirable in the case of room air conditioners where theunit may be located in a variety of positions with respect to theoccupants of the room or other area being conditioned. Under certaincircumstances individual occupants of the room may desire that the airconditioning unit discharge the conditioned air stream into the roomdirectly towards the occupants, whereas under other corcumstances orwhen used by other individuals such distribution may be consideredobjectionable. It is, therefore, customary to provide some means wherebyan alternate pattern of air distribution may be achieved. Thedistribution pattern may desirably provide for discharge of conditionedair air towards the ceiling of the room when the air conditioning unitis being employed as a room cooler, because air near the ceiling of aroom is generally warmer than the air nearer the floor and cool airdischarged towards the ceiling tends to fall promoting bettercirculation and cooling of the room than might be obtained by otherdistribution patterns. Furthermore, if the air conditioning unit is of atype which may alternately be employed as a heat pump where it isdesired to warm the air entering the area being conditioned, it isdesirable that the warm air from the unit, which has a tendency to rise,be discharged in a more nearly horizontal direction. From amanufacturing standpoint it is desirable that the means employed toselectively discharge conditioned air at the desired point beinexpensive, easily assembled, have as few parts as possible, and bereliable in operation.

Accordingly it is a principal object of this invention to provide animproved air distribution assembly adapted to be used in conjunctionwith an air conditioning unit or other air source whereby the pattern ofair distribution may be easily selected by the user thereof.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an air distributionassembly which is inexpensive to manufacture, is easily assembled,employs a minimum of parts and is reliable in operation.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an air distributionassembly having minimal thickness and which can therefore be used inconnection with other apparatus such as an air conditioning unit withoutmaterially increasing the overall dimensions of the apparatus.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an air distributionassembly which requires only a single moving part.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an air distributionassembly having a pleasing external appearance which presentssubstantially the same aesthetic effect regardless of the selecteddirection of air flow therefrom.

These and other objects of this invention which will become moreapparent from a consideration of the specification and drawings areachieved by providing a grille for an air distribution panel having aplurality of angularly disposed vanes therein. Adjacent the vanes of thegrille a baffle plate is positioned having a plurality of slats throughwhich air may pass prior to being discharged from an air conditioningunit. Depending on the posi tion of the slats in relation to the vanes,the air is caused to be discharged at an angle to the grillecorresponding generally to that of the vanes or alternatively, in adirection perpendicular to the grille. A handle or other manipulatingmeans may be provided to enable the user to adjust to the desiredposition of the bafile and to obtain thereby the desired distributionpattern for the air.

The specific constructional details of preferred embodiments of thisinvention will become apparent by a consideration of the attacheddrawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of an air conditioning unit showing afront panel of an air distribution assembly constructed according tothis invention;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary back view similar to FIGURE 1 of the frontpanel of the air conditioning unit illustrated therein;

FIGURE 3 is a cross sectional view of an air distribution assembly takensubstantially on line IIIIII of FIG- URE 2 showing the baffle employedin a position to discharge air in a direction perpendicular to theassembly;

FIGURE 4 is a cross sectional view of an air distribution assemblysimilar to FIGURE 3 with the baffle in a position to discharge air at anangle to the assembly;

FIGURE 5 is a cross section view of a modified air distributionassembly;

FIGURE 6 is a front elevational view of a modified air distributionpanel;

FIGURE 7 is a cross sectional View of an air distribution assembly takensubstantially on line VIIVII of FIGURE 6;

FIGURE 8 is a cross sectional view of an air distribution assemblyshowing another modification thereof.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, there is shown in FIGURE 1a room air conditioner 10 of the type generally known as a portable airconditioning unit, which may be employed as a room cooler or as a heatpump to warm the air in the room in which it is used. The changeover inoperation may be accomplished either by a reverse cycle valve or bymerely reversing the position of the air conditioning unit in the windowin which it is placed so that either the evaporator or the condenser isin heat exchange relation with the air being discharged into the room.While only a front panel assembly will be described in thisspecification it should be understood that the air conditioner may, ifdesired, have a similar side or rear panel as for example in cases whereit is of the type which is adapted to be reversed in the window tosecure an alternate mode of operation. It will also be understood thatwords such as front, rear, vertical, horizontal are employed throughoutfor purposes of description and are meant to be relative rather than toimply limitations.

Air conditioner 10 is provided with a front air distribution panelassembly 11 which for purposes of description can be said to berelatively thin and therefore lying sub stantially in a plane althoughit will be understood that the panel assembly has thickness as shown inFIGURE 3. Front panel assembly 11 is provided with an air distributiongrille designated generally as 12. Grille 12 which also can be said tolie in a plane comprises a plurality of vanes 13 which are parellel toeach other, spaced from one another and have a curved face 13a disposedat a predetermined inclination to the plane of the grille. Vanes 13 mayextend completely across the louvered portion of panel 11, or as shownin FIGURE 1 may be supported at one or more intermediate portions acrosstheir width for structural rigidity. Since vanes 13 are spaced from oneanother they form between adjacent vanes a plurality of apertures '14 ingrille 12. Because the vanes are set in the grille at an angle, theirprojection in the so-called plane of the grille is a dimension less thantheir actual width measured along their acutely inclined surface 13a. Ascan best be seen from a consideration of FIGURE 3, vanes 13 are spacedfrom one another by a distance substantially greater than theirprojected dimension in the plane of the grille. This spacing is shown inthe embodiment of FIGURE 3 to be at least twice as great as theprojected dimension of the vanes in the so-called plane of the grille(which could be any geometic plane parallel with the faces of thegrille). Apertures 14 formed in the grille, therefore, have anunobstructed space for air to pass through the grille without having tocontact and be deflected by the vanes. Vanes 13 of the embodiment shownin FIGURE 3 are curved in order to give at least portions thereof aninclined disposition with the plane of the grille but it will beunderstood that other shapes and configurations of vanes aresatisfactory for the purposes of this invention providing they haveportions disposed at an acute angle or inclination to the plane of thegrille so as to impart an angular direction to a stream of air passingin contact therewith.

Referring now particularly to FIGURE 2, there is positioned adjacent andbehind grille 12, a baflle plate 15 which is mounted in a planesubstantially parallel to the plane of the grille. In the embodimentshown, the bafile is conveniently mounted on panel 11 by a fastener 16which is generally convex in cross section and made of spring materialso as to frictionally retain baflle 15 in contact with panel 11. It isnecessary to permit limited reciprocating movement of baffle 15 in theplane thereof as well as to fix the direction of movement thereof. Themeans shown in the drawing for accomplishing these functions compriseprojpections 19 which may be integral with panel 11, and correspondingslots 20 in battle 15 of a width just sufficient to receive the outerdimension of projection 19. Slot 20 as shown in FIGURE 2 has a lengthgreater than the corresponding dimension of projection 19, and is oflength which permits the desired reciprocating movement of bafile 15 butlimits the extent of that movement by engagement of the ends of slot 20with projection 19. The ends of baffie 15 are shown retained inengagement with panel 11 by the provisions of lugs 17 on each side ofthe panel which ride in shallow recesses 18 in baflle 15.

Bafile plate 15 carries a plurality of slats 23. Slats 23 substantiallycorrespond in position and spacing with respective vanes 13 and mayextend continuously across the entire dimension of bafile 15, or asshown in FIGURE 2 may be more rigidly supported by a plurality of ribs25 which for aesthetic reasons may correspond in position to thestructural supports provided for vanes 13, In either event, pairs ofadjacent slats 23 may form a plurality of apertures 24 carried by baflle15 which correspond with apertures 14 in grille 12. The slats shouldhave a width sufiicient to cover the inclined faces 13a of vanes 13, sothat air passing through apertures 24 is not deflected by the vanes butflows unobstructedly through the assembly in one position of the baffle.The slats should have a width less than the width of apertures 14 in thegrille so that the passage of air through the assembly is permitted.

Manipulating handle 28 having brackets 29 projecting from grille .12 andcoacting with bafile 15 may be provided for selecting the desiredposition of slats 23 with respect to vanes 13. A pair of L-shapedbrackets 29 are shown connecting manipulator 28 to bathe 15.

In operation, slats 23 and apertures 24 may be positioned as shown inFIGURE 3 in one position of the baffle, or alternatively baffle 15 maybe reciprocated so that slats 23 and apertures 24 assume the positionshown in FIGURE 4 with respect to grille 12. As shown in FIGURE 3, slats23 extend upwardly from one of two adjacent pairs of vanes 13 formingapertures 14 and cover the portion of apertures 14 extending from thelower edge of each pair of adjacent vanes which form the aperture.

In other words, in the position shown in FIGURE 3, slats 23 cover thesection of apertures 14 opposite the acutely inclined face of vanes 13.In this position air passing through the assembly avoids the vanes andis unobstructedly discharged perpendicularly from the grille as shown bythe arrows in FIGURE 3 because apertures 14 in the baffie are alignedwith the unobstructed portion of apertures 24 in the grille.

When the slats 23 assume the position shown in FIG- URE 4 by movingbaffle 15 downwardly from position shown in FIGURE 3, slats 23 coveranother portion of apertures 14 extending downwardly from the upper ofthe two adjacent pairs of vanes forming apertures 24. In this positionair passing through the assembly is forced into contact with theinclined portion of vanes 13 and is discharged at an angle to the grilleas shown by the arrows in FIGURE 4 because apertures 24 in the bafileare aligned with inclined faces 13a of the vanes.

FIGURE 5 shows a modified embodiment of the air distribution assemblyshown in FIGURE 3. Bafile plate 15 of FIGURE 5 is generally similar tothe bafile shown in FIGURE 3 except that manipulator handle 58 comprisesan integral tongue projecting outwardly from the top of panel 51.Apertures 54 are formed by the adjacent vanes 53 in grille 52. Vanes 53of this embodiment differ from those of the preceding embodiment in thatthey are generally V shaped in cross section having a portion thereofcomprising one leg 55 of the V extending at a predetermined acute anglewith the plane of the grille thereby forming acutely inclined fiat face55a and having the other leg 56 extending substantially perpendicularlyto the plane of the grille. In addition, separator bars 57 havingperpendicularly disposed face 57 remote from vane faces 55a divideapertures 54 of the grille into two substantially equal sections 59 and60 and serve to direct the flow of the air from apertures 24' in adirection perpendicular to grille 52, when bafile 15' is in the positionshown in FIGURE 5, as indicated by the solid arrows.

When baffle 15' is raised by the operation of manipulator handle 58 tothe position shown in broken lines in FIGURE 5, slats 23 and apertures24 carried by the baffle will be raised from a position in which theycover the one section 60 of apertures 54 opposite vanes 53 to a positionwhere they uncover sections 60 and cover another section 59 of apertures54 extending in the opposite direction from separator bars 57, and willconsequently direct the air in an angular direction substantiallydetermined by the inclination of leg 55 to the plane of the grille asshown in broken lines.

FIGURE 6 shows a modified embodiment of the invention wherein a pair ofair distribution grilles 62 comprise air distribution panel 61. In thisembodiment it will be observed that parallel vanes 63 differ from thehorizontal vanes in the preceding embodiment in that they are disposedat an angle to the horizontal. The air distribution assembly of thisembodiment is shown in cross sectional detail in FIGURE 7. A pair ofbaffle plates 75 carry slats 73 and apertures 74 at an angle to thehorizontal corresponding to the angular disposition of vanes 63.Fastening means similar to that shown in FIGURE 2 may secure baffles 75to grilles 62. Manipulator handles 63 are provided for each of baffles75 and move horizontally in slots 69 to limit the reciprocating movementof the baflle between the desired portions. Vanes 63 are generallysimilar to the vanes in the described embodiment of FIGURE 5 andapertures 64 are formed between adjacent pairs of vanes in each grilleto permit the passage of air therethrough. It will be observed thatseparator bars 76 have been added to the grilles to assure a morepositive directional flow in the direction of the solid arrows whenbafile 75 is in the position shown.

In the position shown in FIGURE 7, slats 73 cover one section 65 ofapertures 64 in grille 61 and the other sections 66 are uncovered. Inthis position, air passing and the bathe.

through the air distribution assembly is deflected by the acutelyinclined curved faces 63a of vanes 63, which are inclined at an acuteangle to the plane of grille 61, as shown by the solid arrows in FIGURE7.

When manipulator handles 68 are moved inwardly towards the center ofpanel 61, as shown in FIGURE 6, slats 73 carried by baffles 75 Will bemoved downwardly from the position shown in FIGURE 7 thereby coveringthe sections 66 of apertures 64 between separator bars 76 and the loweradjacent vanes and uncovering sections 65. Air passing through theassembly will then be discharged perpendicularly to the grille as shownby the broken arrows in FIGURE 7.

It will be observed that the diagonal vanes of the two grilles in FIGURE6 are disposed at an angle relative to the horizontal and are oppositelyangled relative to one another. This construction is well adapted to theuse of a separate baffle for each grille, and separate manipulators foreach baflle. However, if it is desired to use in a single manipulatorhandle the same can be done by providing a single baffle with the slatsin the same relative position as when a pair of baflles is employed. Inthis case the movement of the balfle plate across one of the grilleswill be slightly different from that across the other grille. Because ofthe different inclinations of the vanes in the two grilles, the slats ofthe bafile will move in a downward direction across the vanes of onegrille while the slats of the other baflle will move in an upwarddirection as the balfie is moved diagonally across the panel. This willnot necessarily alter the functioning of the two grilles in the panelbecause as can be observed from the FIGURE 7 it makes no difference inthe function of the assembly whether slats 73 of bafile 75 move upwardlyor downwardly from any given position as long as slats '73 aresufficiently wide to cover substantially half of the apertures 64 and ifseparator bars 76 are disposed substantially at the midpoint of theseapertures.

An advantage to be gained from the use of grille of the type shown inFIGURE 6 is that when it is desired to circulate cool air from an airconditioning unit towards the ceiling of the room in which the unit isplaced, the air is displaced both upwardly and at an angle to the unitthereby promoting circulation about the side walls of the room. Anotheradvantage to be gained from the construction shown in FIGURE 6 whereseparate baffles are used between each grille is that air may bedirected upwardly and side-wise from one grille towards a far corner ofthe room, and at the same time air passing through the other grille maybe directed straight outwardly if desired. It will be appreciated thatnumerous patterns of air distribution are possible which separatebaffles employed with the construction shown in FIG- URE 6. For example,air may be directed generally straight out from each grille or the airmay be directed upwardly at an angle to the grille and fanned outwardlyfrom the center of the panel assembly thereby providing air diffusionand freedom from drafts. In addition, any desired combination of thesepatterns may be achieved by separately adapting each baflle andanyintermediate position between the described extreme patterns may beachieved by adjusting the baffles to a position part way between theirextreme positions.

In the modification shown in FIGURE 8, grille 81 has vanes 87 andapertures 86 between adjacent pairs of vanes similar to the embodimentshown in FIGURE 7. Instead of the separator bars shown in the precedingembodiment, a bafile plate 85 having molded, riveted, or

otherwise secured thereto a plurality of channel shaped slats 83 isemployed. Each of slats 83 carried by baffle plate'85 have extendingtherefrom one leg 88 facing an acutely inclined curved faces 87a ofvanes 87 and is acutely inclined with respect to the plane of the grilleSlats 83 may have another leg 89 perpendicularly disposed to theaforementioned planes.

When a bafile is in the position shown in full lines in FIGURE 8, airpassing through apertures 84 will contact the acutely inclined surfacesof vanes 87, and the exposed surface of acute leg 88, and will bedirected up wardly as shown by the solid arrow. When baffle plate 85 ismoved downwardly slats 83 will be moved into the position shown inbroken lines in FIGURE 8, and air passing through the assembly willcontact the perpendicular faces 87b of vanes 87 and the perpendicularfaces 89 of slats 83, and will be directed perpendicularly to the planeof grille as shown by the broken arrow.

The operation of this invention in its various embodiments has beendescribed with reference to the extreme positions of the baflie platewith respect to the grille. It will be appreciated, however, that thebattle plate may assume intermediate positions such that the slatscarried thereby partially cover the inclined portion of the vanes andpartially cover the unobstructed portion of the grille. Theseintermediate positions of the slats are useful because under suchcircumstances a portion of the air passing through the air distributionassembly is directed in a direction perpendicular to the plane of thegrille and another portion of the air passing through the assembly isdirected at an angle to the plane of the grille. When the two streams ofair converge they tend to combine thereby providing intermediatedistribution patterns at various angles between the patterns provided bythe two extreme positions of the bafiie.

The operation of the described embodiments of this invention may bethought of in two ways. Looking first at the slats carried by thebaffles described in the various embodiments of the invention, it willbe observed that the slats are of a width suificient to cover theprojection of the acutely inclined faces of the vanes in the plane or"the grille when they are opposite the faces of the vanes. The slats alsohave a width such that when the inclined portion of the vanes arecovered at least a portion of the unobstructed apertures between thevanes in the grille are uncovered so that air may pass directly throughthe panel in a direction perpendicular thereto. Thought of in this way,the slats move covering one or another portion of the apertures betweenthe vanes thereby directing air in a perpendicular or an angulardirection. Thinking about the operation of this invention in anotherway, the apertures in the bathe plates can be said to move therebyaligning themselves either with the inclined face of the vanes or withthe unobstructed apertures between the vanes, consequently directing theair either in an angular direction or in a perpendicular direction tothe plane of the grilles.

While specified preferred embodiments of this invention have beendescribed in detail it will be understood that these forms of thisinvention have been presented by way of illustration rather thanlimitation. The invention may take various forms within the scope of theclaims. For example any of the grilles illustrated in FIGURES 2, 5, 7,and 8 are adapted to be used with either the panel shown in FIGURE 1 orthe panel shown in FIGURE 6. Likewise, other forms of grilles and bafileplates may be employed together for the purpose of this invention. Itwill be appreciated for example that separator bars such as shown inFIGURE 5 and FIGURE 7 may be added to the grille of FIGURE 3 if desired.Vanes with either flat or curved inclined faces may be employedsuccessfully in the various embodiments shown.

While I have described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it willbe appreciated that various modifications may be made by those skilledin the art without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.I therefore do not wish to be limited to the construction shown since itmay be otherwise embodied within the scope of the following claims.

I claim:

1. An assembly for directing air alternately in a plurality ofdirections, one of which is perpendicular to the plane of said assembly,and another of which is at an angle to said plane comprising an airdistribution grille having a plurality of spaced angularly disposedrigid vanes, each having a face thereof disposed at a predeterminedinclination to the plane of said grille, said grille further having aplurality of apertures formed therein between adjacent pairs of spacedvanes, said apertures forming a corresponding plurality of air howpassages positioncd between respective spaced vanes so that air may passthrough said grille, said vanes being spaced apart a distance greaterthan the geometric projection thereof in the plane of said grille sothat the upper edges of said vanes extend upwardly a distance less thanthe distance between the vanes, a bathe plate, means to slidably mountsaid bathe plate adjacent said grille in a plane substantially parallelto the plane of said grille for movement in the plane of said bathe, aplurality of spaced slats carried by said bathe, said bathe furtherhaving a plurality of apertures formed between adjacent pairs of spacedslats, said apertures between said slats forming air passages throughsaid bathe, said slats having a width less than that of thecorresponding apertures between said vanes in said grille, each of saidslats being disposed on said bathe so as to cover only a portion of saidapertures in said grille extending from the respective adjacent vaneswhen said bathe is in one position with the slats opposite the acutelyinclined faces of said vanes thereby directing air passing through saidassembly in a perpendicular direction to the plane of said grille, andto cover only another portion of said apertrues in said grille extendingfrom the other respective adjacent vanes when said bathe is in anotherportion thereby directing air passing through said assembly in anangular direction to the plane of said grille, and manipulating meanscoacting with said bathe to enable the selection of the desired positionof said slats thereby to select the desired direction of air flowthrough said assembly.

2. An air distribution assembly comprising a grille having a pluralityof parallel vanes each having a face thereof disposed at a predeterminedacute inclination with the plane of said grille, said vanes beingsubstantially parallel to each other and spaced apart to form aperturesin the grille between adjacent pairs of vanes for passing air throughsaid grille, said vanes being spaced apart a distance greater than thegeometrically projected dimension of said vanes in the plane of saidgrille so that the upper edges of said vanes extend upwardly a distanceless than the distance between the vanes, a bathe plate mounted adjacentsaid grille in a plane substantially parallel to the plane of saidgrille, a plurality of slats carried by said bathe, said slats beingspaced from each other to form a plurality of apertures in said bathecorresponding to the apertures in said grille, said apertures having awidth less than the spacing between said vanes in said grille, means forslidably mounting said bathe for limited motion in a direction in theplane of said bathe,

said bathe being positioned so that said slats cover only a portion ofsaid apertures in said grille extending from one vane of each of theadjacent pairs of vanes, thereby shielding the acutely inclined face ofsaid vanes when said bathe is in one position, and said slats coveringonly another portion of said apertures extending from their respectiveadjacent other vanes, thereby exposing said acutely inclined faces ofsaid vanes when said bathe is in another position; and manipulatingmeans coacting with said bathe to select the desired position of saidslats with respect to said vanes to direct an air stream adapted to passthrough said panel in a direction perpendicular thereto when said slatsare in said one position opposite said inclined faces of said vanes andadapted to direct said air stream through said assembly at an anglethereto when said slats are in said other position whereby said slatscover said other portion in said apertures and said grille.

3. An air distribution assembly as defined in claim 2 comprising a pairof said grilles, the vanes of each of the grilles being disposed at anangle to the horizontal and the vanes of one grille diverging from thevanes of the other grille, and a pair of said bathe plates having therespective slats carried thereby disposed at a correspondingly divergingangle to direct air through said assembly upwardly and outwardly whensaid slats are in said other position.

4. An air distribution assembly, as defined in claim 3, wherein saidbathe plates are independently slidable with respect to each other.

5. An air distribution assembly comprising a grille having a pluralityof spaced vanes disposed parallel to one another, each said vane havingan acutely inclined face at predetermined angle to the plane of saidgrille, said vanes being spaced apart a distance greater than thegeometrically projected dimension of said vanes in the plane of saidgrille so that the upper edges of said vanes extend upwardly a distanceless than the distance between the vanes, a plurality of aperturesformed in said grille between adjacent pairs of said spaced vanesadapted to permit air to pass through said grille, a portion of saidapertures being unobstructed by said vanes, a bathe plate, means toslidably mount said bathe plate adjacent to and in a plane substantiallyparallel with the plane of said grille, said bathe plate having formedtherein a plurality of apertures adapted to be aligned with saidunobstructed portions of said apertures in said grille and therebyadapted to permit air to how unobstructedly through said apertures insaid bathe and in said grille in a direction perpendicular thereto, saidapertures in said bathe being further adapted to be aligned opposite thesaid acutely inclined faces of said vanes to impose a correspondingangular direction to air adapted to how through said assembly when saidbathe is in another position thereof, and manipulating means to selectthe desired position of said bathe thereby to select the desireddirection of air flow from said assembly.

6. An air distribution assembly according to claim 5 wherein said batheplate is mounted on said grille to form a unitary assembly.

7. An air distribution assembly according to claim 5 wherein saidassembly comprises a pair of said grilles and a pair of said batheplates and wherein said vanes and the apertures formed in said grilleand the apertures formed in said bathe extend in an angular directionwith respect to a horizontal plane when said assembly is in a verticalposition and said apertures in a grille and bathe diverge from theaperture in the other grille and bathe.

8. An air distribution assembly according to claim 7 wherein said batheplates are independently slidable with respect to each other.

9. An air distribution assembly comprising a grille member having aplurality of spaced parallel vanes, a face of each of said vanes beingdisposed at a predetermined acute inclination to the plane of saidgrille memher, said grille having apertures formed between adjacentpairs of said spaced vanes adapted to permit the passage of air throughsaid grille, separator bars disposed between said vanes having a facethereof perpendicular to the plane of said grille thereby dividing eachof said apertures into two sections, a bathe plate, means to mount saidbathe plate adjacent and substantially parallel to the plane of saidgrille for limited reciprocating movement in the plane of said bathe, aplurality of slats carried by said bathe having corresponding portionsspaced apart a distance substantially corresponding to the spacing ofsaid vanes, said bathe having apertures formed therein between saidspaced slats and corresponding in location to said apertures in saidgrille, said apertures in said bathe being adapted to permit passage ofair therethrough, each of said slats being positioned relative to saidapertures in said grille so as to substantially cover one of said twosections formed between a separator bar and an acutely inclined face ofan adjacent vane when said bafile is in one position, said slats beingof a width such that the others of said two sections are uncovered whensaid baffle is in said one position thereby permitting air to Howthrough said assembly unobstructedly in a direction perpendicular to theplane of said grille, and said slats substantially covering the othersof said sections between separator bars and the other of said pair ofadjacent vanes and uncovering said one section when said bafile is inanother position thereby permitting air to flow through said assembly atan angle to the plane of said grille, and manipulating means coactingwith said bafile to move said slats from said one position to said otherposition.

10. Air distribution assembly as defined in claim 9 where said vaneshave a leg having a face disposed substantially perpendicular to saidplane of said grille to guide air in a similar direction when saidbaffle is in said one position.

11. An air distribution assembly as defined in claim 9 wherein the faceof said vanes inclined to said plane of said grille comprises a flatsurface.

12. An air distribution assembly as defined in claim 9 wherein the faceof said vanes inclined to said plane of said grille comprises a curvedsurface.

13. An air distribution assembly for directing air in a plurality ofdirections comprising a grille having a plurality of vanes each of whichhas a face thereof acutely inclined with the plane of said grille, saidvanes being spaced apart a distance greater than their geometricprojection in the plane of said grille so that the upper edges of saidvanes extend upwardly a distance less than the distance between thevanes, said vanes being disposed parallel to one another and havingapertures formed at a location between adjacent pairs of spaced vanes insaid grille for permitting the passage of air therethrough,

a baffle plate, means to mount said baffle plate adjacent to and in aplane parallel with the plane of said grille for limited recirpocatingmovement in the plane of said baifle, a plurality of slats carried bysaid baflie, said slats being spaced apart and parallel to one anotherto form apertures in said bafile between adjacent pairs of said slatsfor permitting the passages of air therethrough, said slats comprisinggenerally channel shaped members each having a pair of portions formingsaid channel extending towards said grille from said slat, one of saidportions being inclined at an acute angle to said plane of said bafileand the other of said portions being disposed substantiallyperpendicularly to the plane of said battle, the acute portion of saidslats facing respective acutely inclined faces of said vanes, said slatsbeing arranged to cover a portion of the apertures in said grilleopposite the inclined portion of said vanes in one position of saidgrille whereby air is adapted to be directed through the said aperturesin said assembly in a direction perpendicular to the plane of saidgrille, said slats being adapted to cover another portion of saidapertures in said grille when said baffie is in another position thereofwhereby air is adapted to be directed through the apertures in saidassembly and across the inclined faces of said grille and said slats atan angle to the plane of said grille, and manipulating means coactingwith said bafiie to move said slats from said one position to said otherposition.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,982,125 Stacy Nov. 27, 1934 2,077,734 Anderson Apr. 20, 1937 2,474,152Levy June 6, 1949 2,976,795 Brugles Mar. 28, 1961 UNITED STATES PATENTOFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,045,578 July 24,. 1962William L. McGrath It is hereby certified that error appears in theabove numbered patent req'iiring correction and that the said LettersPatent should read as corrected below.

Column 1, line 23, for "corcumstances" read circumstance: line 29,strike out "air", first, occurrencej; column 2 line 64, for "parellel"read parallel column 3, line 14, for

"deffected" read deflected line 34, for "projpections" read projectionsline 43, for "provisions" read provision line 52, for "13," read 13,,same column 3, line 56, for "faces" read face column 5, line 20, strikeout "in"; line 72, for "faces" read face column 9, line 9, for'"section" read sections Signed and sealed this 11th day of December1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER DAVID LADD Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 7

